Manufacture of slate-frames



(N0 Medal.)

- 0. C.- SHEPHERD.

MANUFACTURE OF SLATE FRAMES.

N0.8O1,630. I Patented Jugs, 1884..

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MANUFACTURE OF SLATE-FRAMES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 301,630, dated July 8,1884.

(No model.)

- To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, (hmnnns C. Sirnrnnnn,

of Passaic, in the county of Passaic and State of New Jersey, haveinvented an Improvement in the Manufacture of Slate-Frames, of which thefollowing is a specification.

School-slates are usually surrounded by a frame of wood composed of fourpieces united by tenons and slots at the angles, and the cornersrounded. The expense of manufacturing such frames is augmented by thenumber of pieces that have to be handled separate1'y,and by the extentof finishing that becomes necessary to remove inequalities in thesurfaces of the wood where the pieces come together at the corners. v

My improvement is made for lessening the number of pieces that requireto be handled separately, and to render the joints at the corners moreperfect.

In the drawings, the figures represent in succession the variousoperations performed in making the slat-shame.

The wood usually employed for the slateframe is cherry. This is sawed upinto plank that are sufficiently thick to include the width of theframestrips, and it is slit up lengthwise of a width suffieient to make,say, four frame pieces side by side. These operations are performed byordinary saws. The strips are sawed up into sections a, Fig. 2, ofsuflicient length for the sides, and I), Fig. l, for the ends, of theslate. If the slate-frame, when complete, is to have round corners, itis preferable at this stage to cut off one edge at each end of eachsection, in the manner indicated at c, Fig. 3; but this isnot alwaysdone. The sections at a and Z) bare packed together flatwise in aconvenient number for handling, and the ends are tongued and slotted,the tongues (I being formed at the ends of the sections b, Fig. at, andthe slots 6 at the ends of the sections a, Fig. 5. These are made bysuitable gang saws or cutters, the tongues (1 being of the same width asthe slots 6, and these are at the proper distances apart as represented,so that the operations next described are performed. The sections arenow set togetherin the form represented in Fi 6, the tongues at beingpressed into the slots 0, and the sections placed in the followingorder: b a b c.

There is now the material for four slate-frames, and only four pieceshave been handled instead of sixteen, and the four pieces beinginterlocked, there really is but one piece to 5 handle in the nextoperations. By suitablecutters in gangs, and in any suitableplaningmachine, I now out in one surface of the combined sections Z) a ba grooves 17, that correspond in position to the tongues d and'groovese,'and in the other surface of the sections I plane the corrugations o0,0r otherwise finish off theportions of the sections that form theouter edges of the slate-frame. The sections now appear in the formshown in Fig. 7. I however remark that in cases where the outer edges ofthe slate-frames are to be square the corrugations 0 0 will not berequired. I now slit the sections lengthwise by suitable saws,

the four separate frames, as shown in Fig. 8. It is to be understoodthat one edge-say the edge :c-is in all the beforedescribed operationsto be brought against the gages or fences in the sawing and planingmachines, so that 7 there will'be perfect uniformity in working up thematerial, and that the sections may be slightly wider than required, sothat all the surfaces of the slate-frames may be smoothed off by thegang of saws that separate the sec- 8 tions longitudinally, such sawsbeing made so as to leave smooth surfaces. In these operations the flatsurfaces of the slate-frames are made true, and in the slittingoperation the four pieces composingone frame remain to- 8 gether, andare complete, ready to receive the slates, which are dressed off in theusual manner, and of a thickness adapted to pass into the grooves i. Theslate-frames in the straight lengths are now packed together in aconvenient number for handlingsay eight with the groove '21 uppermost,as indicated in Fig. 9, and by'a suitable brush or appliance glue isintroduced at the junction'of the respective tenons and slots, and thenthe ends I) of the set of frames are swung up into the positions shownin Fig. 10 and forced home together. The slates s arenow placed intotheir slots in the respective frames. Then the other end pieces, b, areswung up into place against the I slates and the tenons pressed home inthe slots; Then the sides a are turned down upon the slates, and the endtenons and slots inter- 1 1. The method herein described of making lock,and by suitable clamps or pressing devices the frames are all forcedtogether, and the slates and frames are complete, except that whateverdressing may be desired to round the corners of the frame, which may bedone in the usual manner to the frames of the separate slates. By myimprovement the operations'performed upon the slate-frames are greatlyfacilitated, and there is less handling of the pieces.

It will be apparent that there is a great advantage in the manner ofgluing and introducing the slates when the four pieces composing theframe are together in one length.

I do not claim mortises or slots and tenons for uniting slate-frames orboxes; neither do I claim either of the separate operations performed,nor the grooving or sawing up of plank or board to form slate-frames.

To economically manufacture slate-frames of the character described itis necessary to perform the successive operations in the orderdescribed, so as to save time and lessen the number of pieces thatrequire to be handled separately.

I claim as my invention-- slate-frames, consisting in cutting slots andtenons upon wooden sections,interlocking the said slots and tenons offour pieces, then grooving the sections longitudinally, and separatingsuch sections longitudinally into separate frames ready to receive theslate and be closed around the same, substantially as set forth.

2. The method herein described of making slate-frames, consisting ofcutting slots and tenons at the respective ends of wooden sections,interlocking four of such sections, grooving one side longitudinally forthe edges of the slates, planing the opposite side with corrugations,separating the sections longitudinallyto form the respectiveslate-frames,

gluing such frames where the tenons and slots interlock, and thenwrapping the frames around the respective slates and rounding thecorners, substantially as set forth.

Signed by me this 4th day of April, A. D. 1884:.

' cHAs. c. SHEPHERD.

WVitnesses:

I GEO. '1. PINoKNEY, I \VILLIAM G. Mom.

